CHINA - QIANLONG period (1736 - 1795) - Lot 111

CHINA - QIANLONG period (1736 - 1795) Vase composed of five square vases (wulianping) in celadon-glazed porcelain with gold-enameled decoration of lotus flowers and foliage surrounded by endless knots and surmounted by frontal bats and a frieze of ruyi, the necks adorned with flowers and foliage (small restored chip, a firing crack between the central vase and one of the smaller vases). On the reverse, the six-character Qianlong mark in zhuanshu gold enamel. H. of the large vase 20 cm. H. of small vases 15 cm. Provenance: French private collection This five-necked celadon-glazed porcelain vase, marked "Da Qing Qianlong nian zhi", is part of an artistic and technical landscape of imperial innovation under Qianlong (1736-1795). This period was characterized by a quest for technical perfection and a pronounced taste for archaic or complex forms, directly encouraged by the emperor. Imperial craftsmen produced virtuoso objects, of which five- and six-necked vases are a select group. The wulianpíng form - consisting of a central vase surrounded by four smaller interlocking vases - belongs to this family. This form - reminiscent of the six-necked vases (liukongpíng) - demonstrates a high degree of mastery: the craftsmen of the Imperial Manufactory were able to shape several linked bodies in a single firing, without the necks welding together. Multi-necked shapes are part of the long tradition of lianping (联瓶) vessels, heirs to an ancient tradition of jars that already existed in the Han period (206 B.C.E. - 220 A.D.). An example from the Han period can be found in the Huangyan Museum, in the form of a five-necked jar, with a larger central neck surrounded by four smaller, olive-covered necks. The model persisted under the Song (906-1279), a period that provides us with an example preserved at the Smithsonian Museum (accession no. F2016.1a-d), whose main neck is this time covered with a dog-shaped lid. A similar form developed under Yongzheng (1723-1736), but instead of several necks, the vase now features several bodies. These are interconnected, but the contents do not communicate. An example from this period is published in Liu Liang-yu, Ch'ing Official and Popular Wares, A Survey of Chinese Ceramic, Taipei, 1991, p.133. This vase is composed of four truncated cone-shaped bottles with flat lips, glazed in crackled blue, arranged in a square and welded together. Our quintuple vase model, made up of five quadrangular bottles arranged in staggered rows, with the central bottle taller and fuller, represents a new stage in technical prowess: most of these joined vases are round in cross-section, the quadrangular shape, made of plates joined together, imposing a new fragility during firing. A vase of exactly the same shape, preserved in the National Museum in Beijing, was published in the exhibition catalog La Splendeur du Feu, Chefs d'oeuvre de la porcelaine chinoise de Jingdezhen, du XIIe au XVIIIe siècle, Centre Culturel de Chine à Paris, 2004, p. 140-141. This example features a tea powder glaze, while ours is covered with a celadon glaze with gold enamel decoration (miao jin). Precious glazes on monochrome porcelain bear witness to the technical sophistication of the Qing workshops, as their firing required very precise temperature control. The delicacy of the hue contrasts with the brilliance of the ornamentation, giving a feeling of great refinement. The addition of gilding on a celadon background provides not only a visual contrast, but also a symbolic connotation evoking wealth and imperial power, while celadon recalls purity and jade, two materials characterized by their rot-proof nature, evoking by extension eternity. Thus, our vase is part of a formal historical legacy, sublimating it through its form and refined decoration, testifying to both advanced technical know-how and the symbolic ambition of the Qianlong court (1736-1795), and embodying the Qing élan, combining formal innovation, historical reference and material luxury.